Tuesday, April 22, 2008

It puts the date when you post it

Apparently, you don't need to date entries to a blog -- it puts the date when you post it. This is just the kind of automatic engagement with time I think Delillo would appreciate. I don't need to say what time it is -- the time knows. What is my purpose, anyway? If I am not needed as even a recorder of the time, what am I here for?

Perhaps I am here to observe. Perhaps that is what WND is all about -- observation. Listening. Listening to that which is ordinarily ignored. Listening to the white noise.

Eh, I don't know. I doubt it. Maybe WND is here to remind us that every day is WND, just like, when little kids say, "Why is there Mother's Day and Father's Day but no Children's Day?" the adults are trained to say, "Every day is Children's Day."

When I was a little girl there was a television show called "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" and it had a day called "Do As You Please Day." I wanted one.

9 comments:

White Noise day is no different from any other day of the year, in fact the greatest offense you could do a postmodern satire is to try and arbitrarily attach deeper meaning to what is essentially an over hyped meaningless existence. White Noise is the background, the Law and Order you play while sitting alone so that you are not sitting in silence. As soon as you pay attention to it, attach meaning to it, it becomes something different, it becomes the focus, not the background. To honor WND, I plan to do nothing differently.

I don't think White Noise Day is any different from any other day of the year either, i think that day is just about appreciating the book and what the book represents. The book is truly about observation and the power of thought. I think that WND is a day to observe and appreciate thought. Don't be afraid to experiment with different thought processes and thoughts that may pop into your head. I think that that is why there is a white noise day. to help us step back and to just be within our thoughts.

I disagree, I don't think that everyday is WND. If it were, I think we would have defeated what it stands to represent. How often do we honor the mundane? I don't, however, think that WND should be treated any differently than any other day, but it should stand alone in its regularity.

I think WND's purpose is for us to truly listen to the words of Jack and Murray and apply them into our own lives. As students who analyze this book day after day, I think in order to truly understand the importance and meaning of "White Noise", we need to take a step back in our everyday lives and listen to the chatter of our colleagues in a more enlightened manner. We must capture the buzz in and around school and cherish it, especially as seniors who are leaving in under a week.

I agree with Sam's post, the minute you pay any attention to white noise it is no longer white noise but rather the newfound object of attention. The best way to have a WND is to do your best to live an absolutely normal day.

I also agree with Sam. If we shift our focus towards white noise on WND, then it ceases to be a mundane detail of life. It is important to treat WND no differently than any other day by essentially ignoring the daily white noise as usual and contributing to it without being aware of doing so.

Actually, Danielle raises an interesting point about honoring the mundane. If we honor it does it cease to be mundane? By creating a White Noise Day to celebrate what we ignore, we suddenly cease to ignore it. Honoring the mundane is in fact the direct opposite of putting up a sign saying "Most photographed barn." By putting up the sign, you attract tourists, creating a self fulfilling descriptor, but by honoring and elevating the mundane you destroy the very thing that made it mundane.

The idea of observing white noise is in a sense, oxymoronic to begin with. White Noise is by definition noises of everyday life that travel in the background of the noise of the rest of the world. As soon as someone begins to listen to it, bringing it to the foreground of the noise, it is no longer white noise but just noise. While that is going on other noise will fill the gap to create more white noise. So really when we claim to observe the white noise on WND, we are really just getting rid of what was white noise and replacing it with other sounds.

White Noise Day is more than just honoring the mundane and extraneous, much more. Its not just another day, its much more. Some may ask what is White Noise Day really about? If they were too understand the majesty and grace that is White Noise Day, they would be pulling meaning out of the static and white noise, and thus defeating the purpose of this glorious holiday. White Noise Day is so bold, so cavalier. It is defying that which most people spend all of their lives searching for, meaning. Thus, by denying this, it is boycotting life, and that is why this is such a magnificent holiday.